Green Bay - The NFC North Division, which hasn't seen one of its members employ the 3-4 defense since the Detroit Lions in 1994, will be in for an adjustment next season.

That's because the Green Bay Packers are breaking from the norm and going to the 3-4, a scheme that is far more prevalent in the AFC than the NFC.

"I never thought about that," said Dom Capers, the Packers' new defensive coordinator. "But there are more 3-4 teams in the AFC than in the NFC."

Capers, who appeared for about 30 minutes Tuesday morning in an introductory news conference, said the uniqueness of the scheme in the division should help the Packers.

"It's about preparation," he said. "When you go into training camp you're going to designate so much time for the people you're playing against. Then if you've got to go five or six weeks playing against a 4-3 and then a 3-4 pops up . . . I (once) felt we had a tremendous advantage."

As it stands now, the NFC has three 3-4 teams (Dallas, San Francisco and Green Bay) whereas the AFC has seven (Baltimore, Cleveland, Miami, New England, New York Jets, Pittsburgh and San Diego).

The first team in the National Football League to use the 3-4 as its base defense was Chuck Fairbanks’ Patriots in 1974. By 1980, 16 of the 28 were in the 3-4, including the Packers after Bart Starr fired Dave Hanner that year and promoted John Meyer to install it. By 1985, 23 of the 28 clubs used the 3-4.

The Packers were a 3-4 team from 1980 until the off-season of 1994, when new coordinator Fritz Shurmur went back to the 4-3. They had used it ever since.

In 1984, Ernest Dominic Capers closed the door on a 12-year career as a major-college assistant to join Jim Mora's staff with the Philadelphia Stars of the United States Football League. The Stars would win two championships with Capers coaching the secondary for Mora's 3-4 defense.

When the USFL folded, Capers went with Mora to New Orleans as secondary coach. Using a static, two-gap type of 3-4 under coordinator Steve Sidwell, the Saints were 57-41 during Capers' six years.

In 1992, Bill Cowher gave Capers his first coordinator's job. The Steelers had been a 3-4 team for a decade under coordinators Tony Dungy, Rod Rust and Dave Brazil but their famed zone-blitz scheme that still is going strong today didn't take shape until the early 1990s.

The brain trust included Cowher, who was fresh off three years coordinating a 3-4 defense in Kansas City; Dick LeBeau, the coordinator of a 3-4 in Cincinnati from 1984-'91; and Capers.

"We used some elements of the zone blitz in New Orleans," Capers said. "Dick LeBeau used some in Cincinnati. We used a little the first year (in Pittsburgh), a little more the second and the third year is when it became 'Blitzburgh' and everybody thought we blitzed every down."

The Steelers began to perfect a scheme featuring so-called safe blitzing in which they could rush five and still drop six players into zone coverage.

If the offense picked up the blitz, the Steelers weren’t left with a defender hopelessly trying to cover somebody all over the field.

Capers' beautifully choreographed pressure packages prompted Bill Polian to name him as the first coach of the Carolina Panthers in 1995. By his second season, Capers was NFL coach of the year after the Panthers went 12-4 before losing the NFC Championship Game at Lambeau Field.

In "Year of the Cat," a book on that season, Capers was described as "a model of controlled obsessiveness" who slept two nights a week at the office during the season and worked 110-hour work weeks.

A native of Buffalo, Ohio, Capers played linebacker and safety at Mount Union College. He earned a master's degree in administration at Kent State, where he served as a graduate assistant for three years under Don James.

Nick Saban played defensive back under Capers in 1972.

Capers went on to coach the secondary at Hawaii (1975-'76) under Larry Price, San Jose State (1977) under Lynn Stiles, California (1978-'79) under Roger Theder, Tennessee (1980-'81) under Johnny Majors and Ohio State (1982-'83) under Earle Bruce.

In 12 seasons, the schools where he coached were 82-55-1.

After the aging defense in Carolina went sour and Capers was fired, Tom Coughlin hired him as coordinator in 1999. Under Dick Jauron, the Jaguars had ranked 23rd and 25th the previous two seasons using a 4-3.

In its first season in a 3-4, Jacksonville went 14-2 and led the NFL in defense.

"If you can play aggressively and stop the run, that's the best of both worlds," Capers said. "That's where things have to start. The numbers of things you can do and how aggressive you become is based on not letting people run the football so you can get people into predictable down-and-distance. Then you can give them a lot more problems."

Capers became head coach of another expansion team, the Houston Texans, more than a year before it debuted in 2002. But the defense never really clicked and he was fired after four seasons.

He served as de facto coordinator in Miami under Nick Saban in 2006 (fourth overall) and under Cam Cameron in 2007 (23rd overall). Last year, he basically coached the secondary in New England under Bill Belichick.

"I think he really respected Bill for his knowledge," said Brad Seely, the Patriots’ special-teams coach from 1999-2008 who also coached Carolina’s special teams for four years under Capers. "Dom is very even-keeled. Very matter of fact. He won’t berate players but he expects a lot. Green Bay was really fortunate to get him."

As a pro assistant for 14 years, Capers’ teams were 130-102. As a head coach, he was 49-81.

In 34 years of coaching, his teams were 293-247-2, a winning percentage of .542.

"There's certain things you can't compromise," Capers said. "The type of effort you play with on defense. Your preparation in terms of knowing your assignments. If you play as hard as you can and know what to do, it goes a long way to giving you a chance in every game."

Capers, 58, said he had "conversations with numerous teams" in the last week before signing the multi-year offer from Mike McCarthy that will keep him at or near the top of the NFL's assistant-coach salary scale.

A pre-interview phone call from Packers President Mark Murphy, tradition, fan support and personnel were among reasons cited by Capers for choosing Green Bay.

"When it came down to it, I felt this was the best match and best marriage," Capers said. "You’re always evaluating the team, the options and what you think can be done there. I had a good feel for it."

Capers responded to a question about Aaron Kampman’s role in a 3-4 by saying, "The No. 1 thing you do is adapt what you’re doing to your good football players. It’s about players and scheme, but it’s probably more important players than any scheme."

He also said the performance of the linebackers "will be a big determining factor in how much we do of one thing or another. We’ve got to try to maximize what people can do."

Capers wouldn’t say at what rate he preferred to blitz in a typical season. He did say it was critical for a defense to be unpredictable, particularly in coverage.

"I’ve always believed," said Capers, "the more that we can do that’s simple for us and difficult for the opponent, the better we’re going to be."

About Bob McGinn

Bob McGinn is a beat writer and columnist covering the Green Bay Packers. A six-time Wisconsin state sportswriter of the year, he won the Dick McCann Memorial Award in 2011 for long and distinguished reporting on pro football.